It wasn't pretty for Kiwis fans watching their side get annihilated 42-6 by Australia last weekend and it wasn't comfortable viewing for the players when they had to endure a team video session.
But they hope it was something of a cleansing exercise as they prepare for Saturday morning's (NZT) first Four Nations match against Australia in Warrington, northern England.
"The hardest thing to do when you feel embarrassed and let your teammates down is to stand up in a video session and admit that but a lot of the boys did that and we are looking to turn it around,'' captain Benji Marshall said. "We are feeling fresh and are ready to go.
"Belief is a big thing. We have a lot of young players who only played their first test last week and will be better for it. Confidence plays a big part and we definitely have a lot of confidence in the squad.
"There's always pressure in the international game but if we don't the final we aren't going to be happy with ourselves.''
Kiwis coach Steve Kearney expects his side to bounce back from their Kangaroos humiliation and the video session will serve to sharpen minds.
Shorn of many of his top players, including Sam Rapira, Lance Hohaia, Greg Eastwood and Bronson Harrison, Kearney has had to prepare the defending Four Nations champions with limited resources.
"They are all disappointed,'' he said. "They know it was an unacceptable performance from us all. They are determined to put things right.
"It was a really disappointing result for us, one that was totally unexpected from all of us. I certainly didn't see that coming. It was a good little reminder for us what such a dominant force Australia are and the challenge they present every time we take the field with them. We learned a lot over the last eight days and looked at it closely, certainly over the last couple of days, to make sure we put in a good performance on Friday night.''
Kearney said there was no external pressure on the side to perform because they were the titleholders.
"The expectations we put on ourselves is around performance. We have a level of performance we expect to live up to. It's not about pressure _ it's just what we expect of ourselves. In Newcastle we didn't.
"The confidence is in what we think we can deliver in terms of performance. When you have the likes of Benji, Kieran Foran, Kevin Locke and Jeremy Smith, those guys are confident players and I'm confident they can deliver a performance on Friday night.''
Following the Kiwis v Australia match, England and Wales meet at the Leigh Sports Village on Sunday morning(NZT).
Next weekend, New Zealand meet Wales and England play Australia in an historic double-header at Wembley, which Kearney said would be a feature of the tournament.
"It's going to be exciting. It's a wonderful venue and one I have had the pleasure of playing at myself in 1993. Most of the lads apart from Tommy [Leuluai] wouldn't really know what it's about until they get there and have a look at it but I'm sure once we get the first week out of the way they will be really excited about next weekend.
"With the calibre of players on show, I think it's going to be a really exciting tournament.''
Marshall said England would provide a stern challenge in what should be an even contest.
"With the squad they have got, I don't think they have had a stronger squad,'' he said. "But Wales qualified by beating France and France showed what a good team they are by pushing England the other night. If you don't turn up against Wales, they could put teams in trouble as well.''
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